Robby

My Feedback: (18)

This is a thread on building the Hobbico Twinstar ARF as per the instruction manual.
As the other thread has a lot of other entries it was decided to do a single thread
on the Twinstar ARF..
I will chronicle from arrival, opening the box, inspecting, all the way thru maiden
within this thread. Questions and inputs as always are welcomed. Please understand
that this thread is a *by the manual* build..
Here is box, as it arrived, as I removed the kit from shipping box, and opening the
kit box for inspection, and showing the various parts of it and how it is packaged...

I found the packaging to be rather good.. The shipping box is very sturdy and
Hobbico should do well with not having much in shipping damage..

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Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Now that we have opened the box lets have a look at what we have...
Here we can see a parts package box on both ends,one has the various
hardware parts the other has the nacelles.. Both are well packaged altho
my opinion is I would like to see the nacelle packaging have a little more
protection so parts have less movement during shipping..
Removing the parts in center of box, the flying surfaces are wrapped each
by themselves and then taped together so not to move during shipping...
Under the wings and tail is the fuselage seperated by packing so to protect
all parts...

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Robby

My Feedback: (18)

The final part on packaging we can see how the nacelle covers and nose are packaged
in the box.. After removing the flying surfaces from box the tape holding them all safe
together is removed so they can be removed from plastic protective wrapping..

Upon reading the manual it clearly states to inspect parts prior to putting ARF together..

Sooo, lets go open the plastic and lay the major componets out so we can inspect them
for any possible defects or damage... [sm=thumbup.gif]

Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Ok, here it is, all layed out and inspected....
Nice quailty covering and good paint work...
Did a 'feel thru' for broken ribs on wings, all good..
Did same on tail surfaces, seem to be just fine...
Checked out the fuse.. Nice covering and look all there
and nice and tight.. The covering is not the 'shelf paper'
as the old version but rather a heat applied heatshrink
covering, but it is not Monokote...

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TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

Does it have iron-on or stck-on covering? Are the nacelle covers heavy plastic or thin floppy plastic?

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Terry:

The covering is iron on, I can't say what brand. I think I've seen statements about it being Monocote.

The covers are a lot thicker than the old version. Depending on where I measure it ranges from 0.020" to 0.025" in thickness. See picture.

Bill.

Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Terry, the covering is stated by Hobbico to be a heat applied heatshrink covering
but it is not Monokote... It is not the 'sticky paper' as on the old version of the Twinstar..
The nacelle covers will be covered in more detail when we get to that part of the build..

After reading the manual it starts out with having to cut the CA hinges to size as shown on page 6..
Have to admit, this is a loss of points to Hobbico.. Getting precut CA hinges doesn't seem to be that
much to supply with an ARF.. The instructions say to cut the material into 'nineteen' 1" by ¾" pieces..
The diagram shown depicts 24 pieces to be cut.. Having measured the material for 1" by ¾" pieces
it does come out to be 24 pieces, not, 'nineteen'... Minor proof reading mistake perhaps? [>:]

There is on page 4 a diagram of a metric / inch rule and conversion.. Hopefully this will be a part of all
Hobbico manuals as it is a handy feature.. This is what was use to measure out the hinges as stated above...

Having cut the hinges it explains how to remove the covering where the hinge slot is.. The use of a sharpe
knife is required to make a clean cut, and not cut into the wood.. As shown in the pictures this was
done as per the manual on the tail surfaces at this time.. This step is required so the covering does not hinder
CA wicking into the wood so the hinges have a solid hold...

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Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Continuing on page 6 it goes into assembling the ailerons onto the wings, the states
on page 7 step #10 " Install the right aileron, elevator, and the rudder using the
same technique as the ailerons." I suppose if one is doing a twin ARF they should
have enough knowledge to know how to do hinge install on tail surfaces but to have
a bit more description would have been prefered...

In the next post I will do the wings but for now I went ahead and did the tail surfaces..
The hinge slots are not deep enough for the 1" lenght as shown in the attached pic.. This
is something that should have been addressed in the manual that hinges were to be installed
by the 1" being the width, going into the slot by with the ¾" deminsion... The ¾ attachment
is more than adaquate to hold the elevator and rudder...

In this post the covering is shown cut,, hinge placement on vertical, and rudder attached to
the vertical fin.. It really is pretty easy to figure out as long as one does as manual states
in the beginning,, TEST FIT PARTS prior to use of glue..

Something that I do with CA hinges is to use a crayon to mark the center of the hinge. I run it
once in one direction then once in the other and then use a lighter to lightly heat the applied
crayon to 'melt it in' so the CA won't adhere and should allow hinge to flex better.. And of course,
I use crayons that have smiley faces because I am a happy person having fun..

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Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Here are the vertical fin and rudder hinged and the horizonal stab
and the elevator hinged.. After appling the CA to the hinges as per
the manual of appling CA to both sides of each hinge..

After glueing in the hinges, doing a test pull per part, the moving
surfaces were worked back and forth a few times to insure no bind
and to insure there is no major CA in the flex area of the hinge..

Rudder and elevator are attached and no CA runs onto the covering ...
Operation was a success, *whew* ... [sm=sunsmiley.gif]



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Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Now things start to get a little more intense... Assembling the wing..
First thing is to do as manual suggests and fit aileron with hinges into
the wing.. Each wing half uses three CA hinges and then there is the
aileron control rod as well going into the aileron.. Make sure to cut
a little of the covering away where the hinge installs so CA can wick
into the wood on both parts..
Now it is time to start with the glue.. 30 minute epoxy is required for
the aileron control rod and CA for hinges of course..
Couple of hints I have found to make this operation easier and cleaner..
Take a piece of plastic and put between aileron control rod and wing to
keep epoxy from getting onto wing.. The other is I use petroleum jelly
lightly on both aileron and wing surface in the hinge line area to help
reduce chance of getting glue on either surface being careful not to get
any on the CA hinges or in the slots where they go..
First epoxy the aileron control rod on both wings and let cure.. Remove
the plastic then do the CA onto the hinges and do pull test to insure both
ailerons are secure...
And now the ailerons are firmly attached... [sm=thumbup.gif]


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Robby

My Feedback: (18)

The next step is rather simple,, messy, but simple... [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

Look in one of the side boxes for the wood parts package.. In this package are
three ply wood joiners that need to be epoxied together with 30 minute epoxy..
Where the manual does say to, I did a light sand with 80 grit paper to make sure
there is a clean smooth surface to apply the epoxy to..
Then mix a little 30 minute epoxy and apply it to one side of one joiner, lay the
next one onto it, and then do same for next joiner piece, making sure they are
aligned properly..
Now set it aside, go grab a snack and something to drink for a few then you will
be ready to attack the next step...

Robby

My Feedback: (18)

OK !! Break time is over.. Back to work.... [&:]

Now that the joiner is dry the wing halves can be joined...
After doing a test fit of of all the parts look carefully at both wings
where they will be glued together.. Some residual glue from when
they were manufactured was found that would interfer with the fit and not
allow full strength of the epoxy that hold halves together.. Using a knife
scrape the residual glue away.. Where the manual doesn't say to it was
elected to do a light sand on the area to be glued and then roughened
for better adhesion..
This area also calls for 30 minute epoxy.. Make sure you have total
coverage of epoxy on both wings and the joiner.. For added assurance
epoxy was poured into cavity for joiner and then excess poured back
out to make sure area had total coverage for optimum adhesion...
Now that all parts have epoxy on them wing halves are put together...
Make certian both halves are in alignment then clamp together... Also
remember this is a LOW wing so point dihedral in same direction as servo
hole...
Check the dihedral so it is between 2¼" and 2¾" as per page 8, step #7..
Laying one wing half flat on table and supporting the other up I made it at 2¼"...

Let sit a while then wipe off excess epoxy with rubbing alcohol...


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Taildrager-inactive

My Feedback: (11)

Very neat work Robby, your pictures are a great help to illustrate each step in the process. About how long to get to this point for a person that has put together a couple of ARF's?

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

Got mine put together this weekend. My dad already had it built, we just had to break in the engines, and put in the radio gear. That took the better part of Sunday. I have two brand new os 40 la's, and the run great, but synchronizing them is a bit tough. I think they are within 4 to 500 RPM's of each other. They will run about 5 minuts at WOT on the ground with the stock tanks. Gotta do something about that! Every now and then they will synchronize, and man do they sound great together! I figure as they get more and more broke in, synchronizing them will be a little easier. If I keep having trouble, or if it flies poorly because of this, then I'll ditch the Y harness and put one throttle on the AUX channel. Then I can mix the two together (throttle and AUX) on a 1:1 ratio, and that will allow me to electronically adjust the endpoints for both engine servos. Much better than mechanical adjustments! Didn't get to fly it, as it was getting late and I had to get home. I'll fly it in a couple of weeks over spring break! Can't wait!

Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Taildrager,
Figure about two hours so far with not cutting corners or rushing..
Of course, about six hours with pic and text being done..
To this point it has been pretty straight forward so all one has to
do is take their time and pay attention to what they are doing so
not to cut too much or spill CA ...

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

BTW, on mine, with 2 40 la's, the plane balanced perfectly with no added weight by putting the battery and receiver where they are supposed to go--in front of the servo tray. I have an 1100 mah battery and when we put it on the balance machine, it was perfect--couldn't get it any closer, and lateral balance is also perfect--great little plane! Can't wait to fly it.

weskel

Great work, I have one in the box in the garage, just got to find the time to open the box...

I have been wondering on the engines to use, a friend of mine is installing OS 25LA's, what engines are you going to use?


Weskel

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

Robby, are you ever going to finish this plane?
The rest of the free world is waiting for the finished product!

Carlos Murphy

My Feedback: (72)

Robby,
Where did you get this plane???
I just spoke with Tower about MY Dec. order for two T-Stars and was told that the shipment had to be returned to the factory because they forgot include the hardware packs... I was also told that everyone who ordered one would maintain their position on the order list. Soooo, WHERE DID YOU GET IT???

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

Carlos:

There was a post here about Omni Models selling the Twinstar on a special at $10 off the $119.95 price.

I resisted as hard as I could, but the following Monday morning I got on the phone. Since Omni pays freight on orders over $100 I got mine the following Thursday for $110 total. OK, $110 less a nickel.

I called Robby and told him about it, he got one from Omni too. Since Robby was also an early name on Tower's list, they sent him one from the first shipment.

Yes, you read that right. Robby got TWO.

Bill.

Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Okkayyy..
Lets see if I can answer everyone here... [8D]

It looks like I will be using Tiger Shark 36 for power ....

Yes, I am going to finish.. I was away for a few days and
since I returned I have been a tad ill... [&o]

Carlos.. This plane was shipped from Tower Hobbies a few weeks ago..
However, you can also try OMNI MODELS,, http://www.omnimodels.com/
as they were still showing some a week or so ago.. Plus they offer free shipping..

Yes, this plane will be on display at the Multi Meet June 25/26 ..

Will YOU be there to see it..? [sm=surprised.gif]

Carlos Murphy

My Feedback: (72)

Thanks Robbi,
I'll try Omni before I cancil with Tower.
Chuck

Their site say's T-Stars due late March.

Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Allllrightyyy...
After expoxing the wing halves together the wing plate has to be
attached..
Pretty straight forward actually.. Just draw a line around wing plate while
holding it in position then cut covering away leaving a small edge under the
wing plate..
The manual state to be careful not to get epoxy into aileron torque rods holes..
Easy way I found to not get any in hole is to put some petroleum jelly into hole..
Let set for a while then drill bolt holes from topside thru the wing plate on the bottom..
Easy and fast ....

Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Next, look in the parts package for the aileron servo mounting bracket...
Trim as needed to make it fit into center hole on top side of wing....
Manual states to use med CA to attach...

Robby

My Feedback: (18)

Locate the small parts package that also has the motor mounts in it
and the box with the nacelles...
Trim motor mounts and size them to motor you are going to use..
In the small parts package are nuts, bolts, and washers.. Pull out
the 16 long 440 .. Notice there are some shorter ones in package..
Where it looks like it might be enough thread going into blind nut
on firewall, there is.. Remember, a bolt is only as strong as it
is wide... So no need to have excessive threads past blind nut.. The
third pic shows that threads are all the way thru.. Yes, just
barely...
Also notice that there is a left and a right nacelle to provide for
proper outthrust.. May want to mark them as shown to make sure the
proper one is put onto the proper side...
After motor mounts are mounted might be a good time to coat the wood
where it is exposed from cutting for muffler and adjustment needle.. What
I used is clear nail polish.. Easy to use, fast drying, and last ...
At the bottom of the firewall the covering wasn't attached well.. After ironing
it back on nail polish was applied over edge to help hold it long term...

Now that motor mounts are attached to firewall do the motors to the mounts..
Is much easier to fit motors now prior to mounting nacelles to wing....